I was born in Paducah, Kentucky on April 16, 1947. My parents lived in a small town called Benton, Kentucky, which was approximately 28 miles from Paducah. Benton had no hospital at that time, so my mom delivered me at the Paducah hospital.

Benton is shown in the map below.

Shortly after I was born, we moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where we lived with my maternal grandparents in a large house, with my three uncles: Toe (Anthony), Frank, and Junie (Benjamin) Badami. I had lots of relatives around and was probably very spoiled! My grandma was my favorite person in our family. We stayed there until I was four years old, and then we moved back to Benton.

The photo on the left is my dad, David Bluitt Gilliam, in about 1942, when he was 25 years old. The photo on the right are his parents, Otis E. Gilliam and Lula Johnson Gilliam, who was alleged to be one-half Cherokee Indian..

In 1953, when I was six years old, I started Benton High School -- which had all twelve grades in one building. A short time later, in November, my mom had my first brother, David Benjamin Gilliam ("Benny" for short). I was quite put out having to share my home with another child. He seemed to get all the attention!

The photo below shows me at 6 years old, my dad at 36 years old, and my brother Benny at a few months.

My dad like to hunt and we always had dogs. First, I remember having a pointer and then, when I was eight years old, I remember having a breeding pair of weimaraners and black labs. In the summer of 1955, we had two litters of pups -- one from each pair. I loved puppies and remember the joy of having three black lab pups to play with that summer: Lady, Tramp, and Jock. Those were the days when parents didn't have to worry much about their 8-year-old daughters wandering around unescorted. Benton was so safe that we did not lock our doors at night and, in the summer when it was really hot and humid, we left the doors open with just the screendoors for protection. The only policeman that I remember seeing in Benton was called "Chewing Gum Charlie." He drove around and walked around the streets of town, protecting us and I never saw him with a gun straped on.

This is my first dog -- a pointer. I was about 6 years old.

Unfortunately, summer vacation was eventually over and school started -- I was assigned to Ms. Margaret in the third grade. She was a tough teacher and we had lots of assignments. She once took us all to her house during the day so that we could pull weeds in her yard! Soon it was Christmas time. I remember that I often heard talk from the adults in my family of a place called "California." I wondered what that was.

Christmas eve, we had company: my Uncle Carl, Aunt Julia (my dad's sister), my cousin Nat, and my cousin Cherye. Cherye was seven months older than me, so we played a lot when they were in town. The snow was falling and suddenly we heard a knock at the door. A man asked my dad if he knew anyone who had a black lab puppy dog -- he had just hit one in the road next to our house. Unfortunately, it was my Tramp! Cherye and I started crying hysterically. My dad took Tramp to the basement, where he laid on a blanket on the floor. He stayed there several days. One day, my dad told me that he was going to take Tramp to the vet to make him better. Poor Tramp had lain on the floor for days, unable to get up. I trusted my dad to make him better for me.

I kept waiting for Tramp to come home. About two weeks later, my parents were sitting in their chairs in front of the fireplace, reading the newspaper and listening to music on the radio. Curious as to how he was doing, I asked my dad, "When is Tramp coming home?" My dad looked at my mom and she looked at him -- and a quiet hush fell over the room.

My dad looked at me and said, "We thought you would forget, so we decided not to tell you that Tramp died." I was devastated. I felt a lump in my stomach that I had never felt before. I felt my face flush -- my eyes filled with tears -- and I began to loose control. I felt so betrayed. I wasn't sure if the tears were the result of Tramp having died or of having my parents think that I would forget about him, thereby relieving them of the burden of having to tell me of his death. I went to my bedroom and climbed into bed. I continued to cry, wondering what had become of Tramp. I went to church regularly and had heard of heaven. My dad's father had recently died, so I thought I knew what death was (I'd attended his funeral). Soon my dad came into my room to talk to me. I said, "Is Tramp in heaven with PeePaw?" He responded, "No, honey, dogs don't go to heaven. Heaven is only for people and dogs are not people. They are just animals. When they die, they are just dead and gone."

That made me feel even worse and I cried more deeply. I was so miserable to think that my little Tramp -- who I loved so much -- was lying somewhere decomposing into nothingness -- because God wouldn't let dogs go to heaven. That was when I decided that I did not like my Dad's religious beliefs, if that was the way they looked at things. I knew Tramp had to be in heaven if one existed.

Shortly after Tramp died, my dad decided to move us to California. I had no idea what that meant, but I did not think that I liked it. In early February 1956, when I was eight years old, my dad gave away my two remaining labs -- Lady and Jock -- to some people in the country. So, I lost Tramp in December and then I lost Lady and Jock in February. I was so depressed, but nobody paid any attention. I was just a kid.

I don't remember the actual trip to California, but I remember being deposited with my Aunt Bert and Uncle Charlie in San Diego. My parents moved up to Inglewood, California with my little brother, where my dad apparently had a job. So, there I was -- eight years old -- I lost my three beloved pets, my family abandoned me, and I was stuck living with perfect strangers: my aunt, my uncle, my cousin Sandy, my cousin Joe, and my cousin Kathy. I was miserable, because I had lost my three dogs, my hometown, and my family. Nobody understood why I became withdrawn, depressed, and sullen. That was 1956 and before all the psycho-babal. I enrolled at Montezuma Elementary School for the remainder of the third grade and was a very good student -- what else was there to do?

It turns out that my mom was pregnant with my second brother, who was born July 26, 1956. They let me name him. I named him Robert after a blond boy upon whom I had the wildest crush! We called him "Bobby." My Mom called him "Bestest One" -- he was always her favorite. My dad got a job in San Diego, so they moved to a small duplex in the area of town called Clairemont, in September 1956. I remember that address to this day (but cannot remember what I did last week): 3365 Clairemont Drive, San Diego. I enrolled in Whittier Elementary School for the fourth grade. I was nine years old at that time.

About two years later, my parents bought a brand new, 3-bedroom, 2-bath, house in a new development in Chula Vista. It was 1959, and I think they paid about $12,000 for it! I enrolled in the sixth grade at Kellogg Elementary School -- Mr. Bickel was my teacher.

Our house was on the outskirts of town at that time, which was ideal for a tomboy! The neighborhood had lots of kids my age. I had lots of girlfriends who were also tomboys. We loved to explore all over the countryside from Chula Vista to Otay Lake. We had wonderful times together: riding bikes all over, going downtown to shop and buy french fries and Green Rivers at the soda shop, building forts in the canyons with tumbleweeds, having slumber parties where we ate like pigs and told ghost stories, playing girls' basketball at the Recreation Center, and discovering boys eventually!

In the fall of 1959, I enrolled in the 7th grade at Castle Park Junior High School. I liked school, got good grades, and was in the advanced classes for all subjects that were offered. My favorite teacher was Mr. David Bannister, who taught us Social Studies. He always said, "To thyne own self be true, and it shall follow as the night the day, that thou canst then be false with any man." I really admired him. When I was starting my ninth grade, my sister, Martha Ann Gilliam, was born. She was really tiny (about 5 pounds) and cute, so I played with her like a doll.

My sister, Martha, as a baby.

That same year, my Dad decided that we should go back to church again -- we had regularly attended the local Church of Christ in Benton before moving to California. So, we started going to the Chula Vista Church of Christ three times a week: Sunday morning for Sunday School and services, Sunday evening for bible study, and Wednesday evening for bible study. I met Alice Wojciechowski (later Alice Houge), who is still a good friend. Except for family, I've known Ali the longest of any friend.

In the fall of 1962, I enrolled in 10th grade at Hilltop High School. I only went there one year, however, because they were building a new high school that was closer. In the fall of 1963, I enrolled at the new high school -- Castle Park High School. I was in the first junior class. I enjoyed it, but was anxious to leave home and see the world. I wanted to leave high school early, so in the summer of 1963, I attended summer school at Helix High School to earn extra credits.

With those credits, I was accepted to Pepperdine University in Los Angeles for the fall of 1964, which is when it was located in south-central LA -- not in Malibu. I had enough credits and an A-average, but I was only just 17 years old and 4 months, so I was afraid to go to the "big city." At the last minute, I decided to go with my good girlfriend, Rita Hopkins, to a small Church of Christ college in Lubbock, Texas -- Lubbock Christian College. About a month before I had to go, I contacted LCC, applied, and was accepted. They told me that the affiliated high school was accredited and I could get a high school diploma by taking one high school course, which I did, but it turned out not to be recognized by the California school systems.

The 1964-65 school year in Lubbock, Texas, was a real eye opener for a naive young girl. I met some of the most hypocritical, judgmental, and two-faced people in Texas, who were prejudiced against people who were "not like them." Many of those "Christians" hated people from California and thought they were all "going to hell." One of the students told Rita and I that our first week at the college. They told us to take our sin and corruption and go home to California. The California kids tended to hang out together as a result: Karen Graves, Sharyn Todd, North Witcher, James Barron, Rita Hopkins, and myself. I wonder where they are now. I did meet some nice people, but most of those were either NOT from Texas or NOT church people! I met my future husband -- James Smith -- who was from Denver, Colorado.

After one year of that torment, I returned to San Diego in the summer of 1965, took a couple of adult school classes to earn my high school diploma, and enrolled at Grossmont Junior College in the fall. (I did not realize the importance of where you go to college at that time and I just wanted to go close to home and cheaply.) In early 1966, Jim Smith came to see me in San Diego, since his dad had moved to the LA area. We started going together, but my family did not approve. I quit school, moved out of the house, and a couple of months later, ran away to Denver, Colorado. I was mad and didn't tell my family where I had gone, so they had no idea where I was for about six months. Jim and I were married on July 19, 1966, but I did not call my folks until mid-November.

Jim and I both got jobs in Denver and rented a small one-bedroom apartment. I worked as a disbursement clerk at the First National Bank of Denver at 17th and Welton Streets. I distributed the trust funds to the beneficiaries of trusts that the bank administered. I remember a young, beautiful female attorney who worked in the trust department -- Anne Gorsuch (later Anne Burford, who became head of the EPA under President Ronald Reagan). She was an inspiration to me to go back to school and get a good job. I eventually did go back and get a B.S. in Physics and a Juris Doctor, which is what she had. I think that experience in Denver had a significant effect on my life. Remember, in the '60s, girls were not generally encouraged to become professionals.

Jim was not fond of snow, so when the winter started, he wanted to move back to California. I had become pregnant (remember I was very naive), and we moved back to California in March 1967. I stayed with my aunt in San Diego, and Jim stayed with his dad in LA and got a job. Our first son, James Allan Smith, Jr., was born April 24, 1967, in San Diego. In June 1967, Jim and I rented an apartment in Garden Grove, and I got a job as a Report Preparation Clerk at Security Pacific National Bank in downtown Los Angeles. I had a long commute, so we eventually moved to a small apartment on La Mirada Avenue near Santa Monica Blvd. and Western in the LA area.

After a few months, I found a job as a secretary at Dames & Moore, Civil Engineers, in Westwood near U.C.L.A. I became very interested in engineering and decided to major in science or engineering. I started taking night classes and walked to L.A. City College to take night classes -- a dangerous activity today! Eventually I graduated from Cal State University - Los Angeles on June 10, 1972, with a Bachelor of Science in Physics. I had my second son, Jeffrey David Smith ("Jeff"), a few days later on June 15, 1972.

I interviewed at TRW in Redondo Beach (now a part of Northrup Grumman) in December 1972, and started work there on February 19, 1973. I was a Member of the Technical Staff in the Materials Technology Department until 1997. I worked on various projects related to space science experimentation planned for the Spacelab to be flown on the Space Shuttle. I assisted a Principal Investigator (Jo Reger) who performed zero-gravity experiments on metals on NASA's Skylab. Later, I transferred to the Heat Transfer and Thermodynamics Department and worked on analysis and design of satellite thermal control systems, such as DSP, FLTSATCOM, and MILSTAR.

From August 1983 to June 1987, including summers, I attended Loyola Law School at night, while working full-time at TRW. I passed the July bar that year. In September 1987, I took a 6-month leave of absence from TRW and took a position as an associate attorney at Parkinson, Wolf, Lazar, & Leo in Century City. I bought the 11.8-acre parcel upon which my house now sits in August 1988, while I was living in Torrance, California. I always wanted to build a custom home.

In 1990, I started looking for a position in San Diego, and my headhunter sent me to Southern California Edison Company to interview for the position they had for a gas attorney, who they planned to move to San Diego when the Gas Fuels Department moved after approval of the pending merger with San Diego Gas & Electric Company. They convinced me that the merger was 99.9% going to be approved, but it was not, and I am still working at Edison in Rosemead! I started work at SCE on August 27, 1990.

In 1993, I decided to move to San Diego anyway. I leased my house in Torrance and rented a house in San Diego. I started researching my construction project in 1994. In 1995, my employer assigned me to its nuclear work and gave me a satellite office at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station where I worked several days a week. I would either drive from San Diego to SONGS or drive to the Metrolink Station in Oceanside and take the Metrolink to the head office in Rosemead.

Eventually, in March 1997, I sold my house in Torrance and bought a 23-foot-long 1979 Allegro Class A motorhome to live in temporarily while I worked on plans for the construction of my house on my lot in Blossom Valley. First, I lived at Camplands On The Bay, in an area of San Diego, California, called Mission Beach, from March until July 1997. That was a fun time, since I knew several people who had boats at the Marina. When the rates went up to summer rates, in July 1997, I moved in with my aunt Bert in San Diego. I stayed there until October 1997, which is when I finally broke ground for my house! I moved my RV to Lake Jennings Park to be near my property. A short while later, I moved into a room in a friend's house, where I stayed while I built the house and moved into it in April 1998.

My Driftwood Creek Road house:

In May 1997, I went to a miniature horse show held in Lakeside, CA with a friend. I was enthralled with the minis, so I asked a person showing horses where I could buy one. She gave me the phone number of Kasey Mando who was not at that show because it was Mothers Day. I called Kasey and told her I was planning to build a house in Blossom Valley, and she invited me to her house to see a foal she had who was 4 months old. I went to see him and, of course, bought him on payments, with Kasey agreeing to board him until I moved into my house. Blue was a wonderful little blue roan. Kasey convinced me to show him at the Gold Coast Miniature Horst Club shows, and he was weanling of the year that year. I was hooked!

My First Miniature Horse Arabay's Captain Azul (Blue):

Kasey was also the dog breeder who sold me my first Labrador Retrievers and Jack Russell Terriers after I moved into my house. In 1999, Kasey convinced me to breed Blossom Valley Stormy, so she had her testing done and took her to be bred to Ch Rockin Oak Typoon.

In February 2000, I whelped my first litter of Labs. I had already bred three litters of Jack Russell Terriers starting in 1999. I found out that I loved having puppies around. Thus, Blossom Valley Labrador Retrievers and Blossom Valley Parson Russell Terriers were born. Since that time, I have bred many litters, done many genetic and health tests on my dogs, and become an AKC Breeder of Merit.

6. MOVE TO RIVERSIDE COUNTY

On the last Sunday in March 2010, I was driving from San Diego to Rancho Mirage to attend an SCE Law Department Off-Site function, but I did not want to encounter traffic by going up Interstate 15 to Interstate 10, so I vaguely remembered Kasey driving to that show by taking back roads. I thought that the exist was Temecula Parkway, so I took that exit and continued to drive East until my Garmin Nuvi picked up the route to Palm Springs via State Route 371 to State Route 74. As I drove past Temecula and through Aguanga and Anza, I fell in love with the rural atmosphere, so I started looking at property the folling weekend.

My friends Pat Schempp and Kim Neal drove around the area looking for "For Sale" houses the following weekend. At one, we called an agent, which is how I met Robyn Garrison, who has helped me purchase two houses in Aguanga. One is an investment property and one is my personal residence. As I retire, I want to purchase rentals as income property rather than take an annuity from SCE. I want to leave my property to a foundation to be set up to care for abandoned animals.